A Saturday-morning crash left a red car pinned beneath a flatbed truck on the 33 eastbound in Cheektowaga, according to WGRZ. The wreck closed part of the expressway and pulled fire crews, an ambulance, and Cheektowaga Police to the scene. First responders started working to free the car from underneath the truck as soon as they arrived.
Footage from a NITTEC traffic camera near the Pine Ridge-Harlem Road exit showed the red vehicle pinned in the left lane. The flatbed’s rear collision device, a reinforced guard mounted across the back of the bed, had been smashed in on its right side. The car moved over to the left lane and stayed there until crews could work it loose.
Drivers were redirected off the 33 eastbound ahead of the Eggert Road exit while the lane stayed blocked. The closure slowed traffic through the area for part of the morning. Crews were able to completely clear the scene shortly before 9:45 a.m.
Two fire trucks and an ambulance responded alongside Cheektowaga Police. Firefighters could be seen working to remove the car and carry out the extrication. Whether anyone was hurt, and what caused the crash, had not been confirmed as of WGRZ’s latest update.
What Is the Device That Got Smashed on the Truck?
The rear-impact guard took all the impact. It’s a the steel bar or frame that hangs off the back of large trucks and trailers. Federal rules have required guards like it on most trailers for decades, after a string of deadly crashes in which cars slid underneath trucks. The guard is actually meant to catch a smaller vehicle in a rear collision and keep it from going all the way under, since that kind of underride can shear the top off a car.
On this truck, that guard was left crushed on its right side. Guards like it are meant to limit how far a car slides under in a rear crash, though this one took heavy damage and the car still ended up wedged beneath the bed. How the guard performed, and what that meant for anyone inside the car, was not clear from the footage.
What Do Police Know?
Police had not said whether anyone in the red car was hurt, and no injuries were confirmed in the hours right after the crash. An ambulance at the scene is routine for a wreck like this and does not, on its own, tell you how serious any injuries were. The names of the people involved had not been released, either.
What caused the crash was also unclear, and WGRZ described the situation as developing. Cheektowaga Police would typically handle that investigation and could release more once they finish going over the scene. Until then, the cause, the extent of any injuries, and the identities of those involved all remain open questions.